The Future of Networking is Now

How technology and demographic changes are fundamentally enhancing traditional business networking activities.

By C. David Gammel, CAE

It seems like you can’t open your e-mail inbox without finding an invitation to some new online networking service or application these days. The online world has finally come to embrace what used to be a key value of association membership: connecting people who have the potential for mutually beneficial business and professional relationships.

The online world of social networking, which is the catch phrase for this kind of activity, is rapidly evolving. Associations have a grand opportunity to not only participate in the this growth of professional networking online but also to significantly enhance the core value of membership in their organization.

This article explores these latest trends in technology-facilitated networking and identifies where the most valuable opportunities for associations may exist.

Why Network?

What is the value of networking? Why do people engage in this activity for hours on end? You must understand the specific value of networking you are trying to facilitate before you can do so effectively.

For example, LinkedIn was one of the first social networking services that focused exclusively on people in business and professional environments. As they built up a substantial network of people who had signed up for LinkedIn, creating profiles and connections and with others, they looked around for sources of revenue beyond throwing up a few ads from Google. They stumbled upon job postings as something people were willing to pay to put on the site and that job seekers wanted to see. Voila! A key value for networking is met through this massive online network of business people and professionals.

In addition to filling or finding a new position, people network to solve problems, sell and acquire products and services, or to improve their ability to do any of the above as needed in the future. Facilitating these types of networking activity have long been a core value for associations. From membership directories to trade shows to social events, membership in an association was often viewed as the gateway to highly qualified networks of people in your same industry or profession (or one to which you wanted access).

This core value still remains. However, there are many alternatives to traditional networking that have come to the fore of the Internet and business press and word of mouth referrals. What are they doing or offering that is attracting participants in such numbers?

Impact of Technology Upon Networking

Technology has revolutionized how we connect and communicate with each other. Try to imagine working without e-mail or the Web. What we take for granted today was not considered a business tool in the early 1990s.

Communication via online networks is increasingly pervasive. Between laptops with always on cellular network connections to smart phones, we can now connect with each other anytime and increasingly from anywhere.

This pervasiveness of electronic communication increases the speed and reach of our networks. We can rapidly reach out to everyone we know and quickly hear back from many of them. Networking is no longer confined to events we attend or one-to-one telephone calls: we can now access our entire network of contacts instantly.

This extended network of contact creates what is called the network effect: every additional person added to the network creates more value than just their own potential contribution. Their value is not just limited to those they are directly connected to, they also can provide potential value to everyone their connections are connected to. This is the model that services such as LinkedIn try to build upon in their professional networks.

Personalization and discoverability are also modern aspects of networking online. Many services allow people to create extended profiles of their experience, expertise and connections, facilitating their discovery by others. You can search these profiles to find who you need to connect to rather than relying on personal referrals.

Yet, with this greater potential interconnectedness, you also end up with more ‘noise’ in the network. Spammers often strike these networks, attempting to distribute their messages, overwhelming genuine traffic. The sheer number of people in some extended networks can also make it difficult to find the right person since there are so many options and searching effectively is still often challenging.

The Near-term Future of Association Networking

“The future is here. It’s just not very evenly distributed.”
William Gibson, author.

Given that the future of networking is already here, what can or should associations do with their networking efforts? Below are some ideas for networking through the association itself as well as how associations can engage and support networking on other platforms.

Enhancing Association Sponsored Networking with Technology

Most online association membership directories are crying out for enhancement. Members are often lucky to be able search upon any criteria other than first and last name, let alone use more sophisticated tools to support their networking goals.

Every directory should enable members to add more information to their basic profile in the directory. The profile is where the beating heart of individual personality lives on any social networking site today. Association directories should do the same. Allow members to list their employment history, publications, awards and honors, you name it. Whatever might provide value to their networking goals should be enabled. If the association already has some or all of this data, explore how you can display it automatically.

You should also enable members to make mutually agreeable connections with each other via their directory profiles. At a minimum, they will have a personal address book of their connections handily available from the association web site. Going further, if you make those connections visible to other members, you will enable much of the value that sites such as LinkedIn provide.

All of this content and network of connections should be searchable as well. Provide a simple search that covers all the content as well as advanced search interfaces that facilitate more specific needs.

Finally, you must promote your newly enhanced networking tool. Sing its praises at your face-to-face events as an extension of the networking value you offer. Discuss how to use it in your print publications. You get the idea.

Support and Facilitate Networking Around the Web

You shouldn’t just limit yourself to what you can do on your own site. There are numerous sites around the Web that allow groups to participate and support the activities of others.

You can found your own groups on sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook for no fee, allowing your members on those platforms to join and highlight their membership to others in their networks. You should be prepared to contribute some valuable content to these efforts and have staff checking in regularly to be successful with this kind of effort.

You can also support grass-roots groups of your existing members who create their own groups on these sites. Often, they will organize around a topic or segment that you could not profitably serve yourself. This is OK! Pay attention to what they are doing, offer support where you can to create good will and keep an eye out for ideas that you can develop within the association itself.

Finally, you can reach out to self-organizing groups of your potential members. This is the trickiest of all to do because you do not yet have a reputation established with these folks since they are not yet your members. Gradually and tactfully introduce yourself to these groups on the sites they are using and provide value over time through your contributions. If your participation is appreciated, you can then move to offering space at your meetings for these groups to get together face to face, underwrite a dedicated webinar, etc. The goal is to establish your brand with these potential members in a way that is favorable to their joining in the future when they are ready for membership.

What Next?

To get started, identify the value of networking for your current and desired potential members. Then explore how you can enhance the value you offer for that networking via your own site as well as other social networking services. This doesn’t have to be elaborate but nothing will happen unless you take action.

You already have an advantage over almost any other start-up or group attempting to support networking given the nature and history of associations. The future of networking is already here. Are you going to be a part of it?

High Context Consulting, LLC